Our Anniversary!

Today is our two year wedding anniversary! :) I have such good memories with D and I feel so lucky to have him in my life. He truly is my very best friend. Let me take you back through our relationship a little bit. :)

At the end of my Junior year of undergrad, it was one of my best friend's 21st birthday. We went out to dinner (giant margaritas, anyone? :) ), and then went to the campus bars, since it was her first chance to do so. At the first bar, one of our other friends met us, and she had a few extra people with her. One of them (spoiler alert: my future husband, ha!) was talking about doing tensile testing, which was similar to what I was doing at my internship, so I started talking to him about it. We only talked a little bit that night, but I saw him again the following Thursday (leaving a different bar!). We went to McDonald's together and had root beer and fries (so romantic, right?), and started to get to know each other. 

D left soon after that to go to Pennsylvania for an internship, but we were both excited to have met a new friend, and we texted each other once in awhile over the summer. When school started again, we didn't see much of each other, but then Laura brought him to Andrew's surprise party at our apartment. I was super annoyed that he didn't tell me he would be there (and maybe I was a little tipsy), so I made him leave (well actually, we voted! haha), but after that we started talking again.

At the beginning of November we finally realized that we wanted to be more than friends, and we decided to go out on a date. It took about two weeks after that for me to realize that he was something pretty special. :)

My friend Katie, D, and I at my Senior Day football game

Our first Halloween celebration!

We had a great Spring semester together, and since I had already accepted a job in Chicago, D decided to come with me. He found a job shortly after, so we found an apartment together in the city. We enjoyed living in Chicago--lots of bike riding, outings with friends, and new experiences.

During Christmas break of 2010, Dustin and I (and our friend Anthony!) took a trip to New York City to see the ball drop for New Year's. We made our way through the crowd and ended up around 52nd street and 7th avenue where we waited about 4 hours until midnight. It was cold, but a very memorable New Year's Eve.

One year later in 2011, we went back to New York for a vacation. Dustin had been hinting about getting engaged, but made it clear that he did not yet have a ring, so I had no idea that anything was going to happen on this trip. On Wednesday, December 28, we went out for drinks in the evening, but then I was tired, so we went back to the apartment to take a nap. We planned to get up after a few hours and go to the Empire State Building since neither of us had ever been before.

Around midnight, Dustin started trying to wake me up. I said we could just wait until tomorrow to go to the Empire State Building because I wanted to keep sleeping. He kept insisting that I get up, so finally I gave in and got up. We hopped in a taxi and rushed over to the Empire State Building. There were very few people there so we got to avoid the lines and the view from the top was amazing. 

Us at the top of the Empire State Building

After we spent some time at the top, we went back down, and Dustin suggested that we go for a walk. We went to Times Squre, which was mostly empty (a very different sight then normal!). After walking around for a little while, we stopped at a McDonald's for ice cream. We sat there while we ate, and then Dustin suggested we walk home.

We started walking when I realized that Dustin was looking for a specific place. I asked him what he was looking for and he said he was looking for 52nd and 7th avenue where we had stood the year before for New Year's Eve. When we found it, he turned and faced me, then got down on one knee. I said yes, and the rest is history! :)

Two of our engagement pictures--we took them in Millennium Park in Chicago

We went back to Purdue to start grad school in the fall of 2012, so we decided we should get married sooner rather than later, before grad school got insanely busy. We decided on November 24, 2012. It was a beautiful day surrounded by both of our families and all of our best friends. 

Walking out of the church

Driving off to the reception in our limo

Like I said, such great memories! Tonight we plan on going to dinner and just spending some time together. I made him a photo book with a bunch of pictures we have accumulated over the years. Hope he likes it. :) Have a good day everyone!